Vegan Cauliflower Bisque with Roasted Green Chickpeas

Wednesday and Thursday are crazy days in my house. Full days are followed by evenings filled with activities for the kids and I am left with very little time for making dinner and clean up afterwards. On these days I rely on quick meals but I don’t like to sacrifice the quality, especially since being busy requires good-food fueled energy. This dish looks like it takes hours to make so you will get lots of accolades for little effort spent. And the taste is divine; it’s so creamy and decadent, it’s hard to believe there is not a drop of dairy in it.
Cauliflower is the unsung hero of veggies. It is high in vitamin C, fiber and has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

A lot of people seem to remember cauliflower being served to them mushy and flavourless giving it a bad name. If you haven’t tried roasting cauliflower before, I highly recommend it. It caramelizes beautifully and the roasting seems to diminish it’s sometimes bitter taste profile.

Cashews are the dairy replacement in this soup. When you puree the soaked cashews and vegetable broth together you will be amazed at what you get. It is literally the color and texture of full fat cream.
The roasted green chickpeas are the perfect finishing touch to top the soup with. Because the soup is so creamy, smooth and sweet, the spicy flavour and crisp texture of the chickpeas is the perfect companion. Green chickpeas are very similar to edamame but minus the soy. They are young chickpeas, harvested at the peak of their nutrition. There is a lot of power packed into those little green peas! Half a cup of green chickpeas has 19. 3 grams of protein and 17.4 grams of dietary fiber. They are rich in B vitamins, iron, magnesium, zinc… the list goes on and on. And they taste fantastic; my kids gobble them up by the bowlful! If you can’t find green chickpeas, use edamame or regular chickpeas instead.